Panic! Productions presents LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

Panic! Productions closes its 2016-2017 season with a fresh take on the crowd-pleasing musical, "Little Shop of Horrors," June 2 through 18, at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts in Thousand Oaks. The Alan Menken-Harold Ashman ("Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid") musical will be directed by J. Bailey Burcham, with choreography by Tyler Matthew Burk, and musical direction by Josh Bednarsky.

"Little Shop of Horrors," based on the 1960 cult classic film by Roger Corman and Charles Griffith, is the macabre, yet hilarious tale of meek flower shop assistant Seymour, who pines for co-worker Audrey. During a total eclipse, he discovers that an unusual plant, which he has named Audrey II, feeds only on human flesh and blood. The 1982 stage musical ran for five years off-Broadway and was made into an Oscar-nominated film, directed by Frank Oz, in 1986. Burcham, hot off his searing, critically-acclaimed lead performance in Panic! Productions' mounting of "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" at Theatre 68, will put his stamp on the show by updating the action to Los Angeles' Skid Row in 1994.

Elijah Malcomb plays Seymour and Catriona Fray is Audrey. Also in the cast are Trae Adair, Lora Hakanson, Cariel Hughes, Fay James, Terika Jefferson, Mookie Johnson, Jokull Jonsson, Allison Martinez, Paul Panico, Olivia Van Den Berg, and Lindsay Zana. Set design is by Rei Yamamoto, lighting design by Shara Abvabi, and costume design by Barbara Mazeika. The production stage manager is Tawni Eccles.

"Little Shop of Horrors" opens Friday, June 2, at 8 pm and continues Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm through June 18. There will be additional performances Thursday, June 8, at 8 pm and Saturday, June 17, at 2 pm. Tickets are $25/$22 student and seniors, with group rates available, and can be purchased at panicproductions.org, by calling 805/381-1246, or by visiting the box office. The Hillcrest Center for the Arts is at 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks.